Matteo Tondini

Biography

Matteo Tondini (Laurea - Macerata; MA - CASD, Rome; PhD - IMT, Lucca) is a naval officer, military legal advisor and researcher, with specialization in international/operational law and security issues. Currently Matteo serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Naval Staff College in Venice.

Matteo is also one of the Editors and former Editor-in-Chief of the Military Law and the Law of War Review.

Education

In July 2002 Matteo obtained a Laurea in Law from Macerata University - Faculty of Law, with a thesis in international law, followed by a postgraduate masters degree in International, Military and Strategic Studies at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (CASD) in 2003, and a diploma as legal advisor at the Joint Services Staff College (ISSMI) in Rome. In 2004 he also attended a course on law of armed conflict at the IIHL in Sanremo, followed by a traineeship at the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War (Brussels) in 2005. In 2006 Matteo completed a research period at the Department of Peace Studies - University of Bradford (UK). In December 2008 he got a Ph.D. in 'Political Systems and Institutional Change' at IMT - Lucca Institute for Advanced Studies (Italy), with a thesis on justice system reform in Afghanistan.

Professional Background

In 2003 Matteo attended an internship at the Italian Diplomatic Office in Pristina (Kosovo). In 2004/2005, at the end of a two month training course at the Naval Academy in Livorno, he served as a naval officer (Navy Supply Corps) in the Legal Services Office of the Rome-based Command in Chief of the Italian Fleet. Once finished his service in the Navy, in June-July 2007 he worked as a consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA - Afghanistan Unit) for the organization of the Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan, which was held in Rome on 2-3 July 2007. Thanks to his role in the Rome Conference and his research interests, from December 2007 to May 2008, and again in March-April 2012, Matteo was hired by the MFA as an expert on mission, working as a policy advisor to the Embassy of Italy in Kabul (Afghanistan) - Office for Development Cooperation (Afghanistan Justice Program). Having completed his doctorate, from September 2009 to October 2010 he got the post of post-doctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam within the EU-funded - 'INEX' Research Project, where he carried out a study in five European countries. From November 2010 to December 2011 and from March to September 2013 Matteo was recalled to active duty in the Navy serving as legal advisor to the Navy General Staff - Office of Legal Affairs. In May 2014, following an eight month training course at the Naval Academy, he entered the Navy on a permanent basis. From May 2014 to June 2015 Matteo worked as a legal and assistant supply officer on board a warship. From June 2015 to July 2016 he worked again as a legal advisor to the Navy General Staff - Office of Legal Affairs. From July 2016 to September 2017 he was seconded to the Rome-based Operational Headquarters of the EU Operation Sophia, serving as the legal advisor to the Operation Commander. From September 2017 to October 2019 he moved to the Defence General Staff where he served as legal advisor within the Office of Legal Affairs (International Affairs). Since October 2019 Matteo has been based in Venice where he serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Naval Staff College.

In 2014-2017, and again in 2023, serving as legal advisor, he joined all the principal maritime security operations in the Central Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean carried out by the Italian Navy and the European Union, namely Operation Mare Nostrum (July-September 2014), Operation Mare Sicuro (November-December 2014 and May-June 2015), EUNAVFOR-MED Operation Sophia (March-May 2016; July 2016 - September 2017) and EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta (July-September 2023).

Research Interests and Memberships

Matteo is the author of a monograph and several articles concerning a number of topics in different disciplines. His research interests encompass - but are not limited to - military/international/maritime law, post-conflict state-building, international terrorism, use of force, and human rights/international humanitarian law.

As a part of his research activities, in the past he was appointed a cultore della materia (teaching assistant/expert) in international humanitarian law at the University of Rome 3, Faculty of Law. In he also collaborated, inter alia, with the Italian Red Cross and the Istituto Affari Internazionali. In 2013-2015 he contributed in the EU-funded SHARES Research Project, led by the Amsterdam Center for International Law and focused on the responsibility of international actors. 

His memberships include: International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL)Italian Society of International Law (SIDI-ISIL) and Société Internationale de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre. Matteo is also a member of the ISIL Interest Group on the Law of the Sea.

Awards

2017 Richard R. Baxter Military Writing Prize (ASIL-Lieber Society) - Honorable mention for the Chapter Coalitions of the Willing, in A. Nollkaemper and I. Plakokefalos (eds), The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, 701-732.

 

  Contacts: m.tondini@gmail.com

 

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 Publications

(available on request)

Books

[Monograph drawn from the author's PhD Thesis: M. Tondini, Ubi Maior, Ibi Ius: Assessing Justice System

  Reform in Afghanistan, Lucca: IMT - Institute for Advanced Studies, 2008. Pp. xxviii, 250].

  [ NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK ]

  [ Also available on GOOGLE BOOKS ]

 Reviewed in the:

 

Journal Articles and Chapters in Edited Collections

 

Book Reviews

 

On-Line Papers & Reports

 

Other Research Activities

 

Seminars & Lectures

 

Conference Presentations